Ship's Blog: February, 2009

There are some products where...well...I just don't know what to say about them.

Here's my "favorite" of the moment: Bumpits

Leaving the awful name out of the discussion, is the concept of "bumping up your hair" really considered a good one? What year is it, anyway? Did I fall into the Wayback Machine by mistake? Is this an episode of Doctor Who?

Thank you, Bumpits creator Kelly, for wishing me a "happie" hair day. (I take it that "happy" hair was already trademarked.) But, honestly, I don't think there is any part of my body, least of all my hair, that needs a perfect bump. And please don't invite me to "bump a pony." I can't help but feel offended by that, kind of like how I feel when I accidentally surf past Cinemax "after dark." Mon dieu.

Yeah, that's me not knowing what to say about it. Okay, I'll shut up now. 

Recently, I was at the bakery in a grocery store, buying...well, okay, I was buying custard éclairs. For a special occasion. I'll figure out what that special occasion was later.

Anyway, the young woman working at the bakery was rhapsodizing with me about how wonderful these custard éclairs are, when a young boy (maybe six years old) interrupted us. Leaning conversationally against the front of my cart, he asked, "Do you like mushrooms?"

I made a face as I responded with an emphatic, "No, they're gross!"

The woman behind the counter nodded. "They are gross!"

The little boy frowned. "But they have to be eaten. They are vegetables."

Not wanting to address the issue of fungi vs. vegetables, I simply answered, "Well, then, I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

A perplexed frown knit across his eyebrows as he looked at me. Then, for a split second, he shifted his eyes to focus on some distant point, as if recalibrating his experience. He straightened up, turned around, and walked away, no doubt wondering how he managed to mistake us for grown ups.

I wanted to say, don't worry, kid, it happens with me a lot. Must be because I am so tall.

Here, in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have had a really cool drug store called Elephant Pharm. It is was like a hip, healthy Walgreens, all bright and shiny. Along with a compounding pharmacy that handled traditional Western medicine, they had an herbal pharmacy and lots of vitamins and supplements. Yoga and other health-oriented classes were in the back. In the front were all sorts of neat items like yoga mats with beautiful designs, eco friendly tote bags, every skin-friendly beauty product you can imagine, and someone to do chair massages.

I came to Elephant Pharm late in the game (maybe six months ago) but I was excited to find them. Whole Foods is expensive and the attitude of other shoppers can be just too much for me. But Elephant Pharm was bright, warm, and friendly. Since I was having a huge hassle with my current pharmacy over an insurance technicality, where they just weren't making the right call to get something approved, I needed a new pharmacy. So, I walked to the back, passing by all the healthy, vibrant, good-for-you products, and I asked pharmacist, "Do you do toxic Western medicines, too? Because I need some of those." He said yes, no problem.  Read more »

When looking up the course materials for an online Psychology of Learning class, I noticed that you needed a copy of Sniffy, the Virtual Lab Rat. Not being as hip as the kids these days, I wasn't familar with virtual rats, but I quickly figured it out. The concept is cool - a rat simulator for students repeating the same old classic behavioral experiments. Save the rats, and all that.

I wanted to see what this looked like and so I hunted around and found the Sniffy website. Turns out, he comes in two formats: Sniffy Lite and Sniffy Pro. I don't know about you, but I'm a bit nervous about working with a professional rat…a lite version sounds just fine to me.  Read more »

But check out those dated graphics! You are SO not fooling me, InnerActive Productions and Publishing!

This weekend, I ordered two independently-produced instructional DVDs from artist Bill Buchman. Bill uses Film Baby to handle the order processing and delivery of the DVD. Today, I received my confirmation from Film Baby, letting me know that the DVDs have been shipped - and I have to say, this is easily the most entertaining confirmation letter ever:

Hi Alix,

Hooray! I am pleased to announce that your order has been processed and is now complete.

Please rest assured that we've taken great care in the shipping of your DVD.

We hold true to an ancient DVD shipping tradition passed down for over 5000 years. This very intensive practice is only achieved after years of training, meditation, purity of mind, and deep breathing exercises.  Read more »

Both my cousin and my sister tagged me, via Facebook, to write "25 Random Things About Me," and so - voila! Read it at your own boredom.

In true chain letter fashion, I'm supposed to tag 25 other people. I say, if you're reading this now, consider yourself tagged by me. Leave a comment with a link to your blog when you post your own random things, so I can learn more about you! (And check out my friend Lynne's 25 things - it cracked me up!) Don't forget: you're also supposed to tag 25 other people to keep it going, but I'm not going to audit you.

1. When I was seven, my family went on vacation to Europe for three weeks. I stayed behind because I thought I would "cost too much," though I told them it was because I probably wouldn't like having to eat strange food. They left me with the neighbor across the street. Word to the wise: Don't ever do that to a child that young, no matter what they say.

2. I created my first website (Sappho.com) in 1995. That's almost fourteen years ago! Even after all this time, Sappho.com still gets a whopping 20,000 unique visitors a month. Of course, what do you want to bet that a chunk of those people are looking for some hot girl-girl action? Uh, yeah, good luck trying to find that amidst all the poetry and art.  Read more »